Last fall, the WSKG newsroom asked listeners to send us their thoughts and questions about their school districts, from tax rates and spending to educational programs. WSKG heard from almost 300 listeners, which helped shape the news team’s continuing reporting for our series “Public School + You: A look at Southern Tier school districts.”
WSKG News Director Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo and Elmira-Corning reporter Natalie Abruzzo discussed some of what the news team learned from listeners.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
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Phoebe Taylor Vuolo: First, let’s talk a bit about the survey itself. The idea was to ask listeners questions they have about their school districts. Talk to me about the survey. What kinds of things did we ask listeners?
Natalie Abruzzo: Well, this was something that came about through WSKG’s reporting in 2024 and 2025, when some school budgets failed at the polls on their first try.
It was also to find out more about the types of questions residents had for their superintendents and school boards.
Some of our questions pertained to demographics: their county, school district, whether they own their home, are they retired, etc.
We were also very direct in our ask, like, “Did you choose where to live because of the school district, and taxes? Do you think students have what they need for a quality education where they are?” We even asked if they know why some public library budgets get attached to the school budget vote each year.
We tried to take a broad approach because one of the things that I discovered in my news coverage is that there is often a lack of communication between the school districts and the tax base, especially those who don’t have students in the schools.
And so, the interactions between the public and the school board tend to be around budget season and the impending budget vote, which leaves questions from the public on the table that may not be addressed by the district during the school board meetings just prior to the vote.
PTV: So, as far as how people responded to the survey, was there anything that surprised you?
NA: It wasn’t so much the content of the responses that were surprising per se, because in our coverage of the school districts, the answers were in line with what we hear out in the communities and what public comments have been like since 2024.
Taxes are high, teacher salaries are low, taxpayers want their money going to expanding education and not administrator positions or salaries.
Sports, they hit a sore spot in some cases. Some residents expressed that the amount spent on sports is too high, specifically the football programs.
And then there were the opposite responses that were very positive, about transparency and communication from the districts, and even the amount of taxes they pay so the budgets can support the educational instruction and programs offered, such as band and theatre or earned college credit and vocational skills.
What really stood out to me were the amount of responses and how many areas participated. It’s really exciting to see where people are listening!
PTV: Yeah, we reach 21 counties at WSKG. So where are some of the places we heard from with this survey?
NA: This is the really exciting part, Phoebe. WSKG heard from more than 15 counties and about 60—that’s six-zero—different school districts.
PTV: That is a lot. Are they all in New York?
NA: Mostly from New York but there are a few participants from the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, in Tioga, Bradford and Susquehanna counties.
But in New York, our survey reached as far as Seneca, Allegany, Otsego and Delaware counties. These are in our listening area but because our reporters are stationed in Broome, Steuben, and Tompkins counties, we don’t often hear from, or report on, those areas—well, not as much as we’d like to anyway, because of how we’re set up now. We definitely know they’re tuning in, and they have a lot to say.
PTV: So is there anything more that you’d like to hear from listeners that you didn’t get back from the survey?
NA: I’d really like to get an understanding of how this year’s budget votes that just took place in May compared to years past where voters failed to pass some budgets on the first vote. Areas like the Ithaca City School District or the Corning-Painted Post School District, and Horseheads or Newfield Central School Districts.
What changed? Was it more transparency or communication? Was it a more reasonable budget expansion? Was it staying within the tax cap? You know, so many questions, Phoebe. There are just so many questions!
PTV: Yeah, it is really interesting to look at when school districts pass their budgets and when they fail, and sort of, what factors were at play there, what that means. What’s next in this project, Natalie?
NATALIE: Well, as you know, we are a small-but-mighty team of journalists and our Ithaca reporter, Aurora Berry, produced a terrific piece for our project that really breaks down how the budget is put together and what it means when budgets fail. And we’ll be delivering additional pieces from districts around the Southern Tier this summer. We’ll also have some neat interactive components and graphics that you all can find on our website and social media channels. So, stay tuned for that.
And keep talking to us. We are out in the field, so approach us, or send us emails. We love hearing from you.
PTV: You can email the newsroom at news@wskg.org. Thanks for talking to me about this, Natalie, I am really excited about this project. You can check out more of the team’s reporting for 'Public School + You: A look at Southern Tier school districts' at WSKG.org/publicschool.
